Catch My Disease
by Tell Her This
Summary: Repost under new account. Oneshot. "Do you think there's some sort of flu monster who controls who feels ill?" JD and Elliot are confined to Elliot's apartment when they both catch the flu. JD/Elliot friendship.


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**AN:Repost under new account. This is set roughly end of season six/start of season seven-ish. But I have changed things slightly. Kim DID lose the baby, and Elliot and Keith were never engaged. What happened in the season six finale never happened in the universe of this story. :) Hope you like. Please let me know what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Nor do I own and games, movies or Grey's Anatomy related thing that are mentioned in this oneshot.**

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**Catch My Disease**

Elliot Reid's apartment was quiet. The clock mounted on the wall read 8.02pm, and Elliot was preparing to go to sleep. Eight o'clock might have seemed an early time for most to be heading to sleep but Elliot wasn't long off of an extremely demanding twenty-hour shift, and she was exhausted.

The blonde-haired doctor glanced around her living room, just to check that she had done everything she needed to before she called it a night. The dishes were washed. The coffee table was neatly tidied. The electrical appliances were switched off. Satisfied that everything was as it should be, Elliot nodded and switched off the living room lamp, plunging the room into darkness.

After blindly manoeuvring herself into her bedroom, careful to avoid anything she could fall over or stub any toes on, Elliot lay down on her bed and covered herself with her cream-coloured duvet. She had barely been in her bed a minute when there was a knock at her front door.

Sighing, Elliot tossed a corner of her duvet to one side and sat up, her feet finding their way into her fluffy stuffed frog slippers almost instantly. She scuffled out into the living room and towards her door, cursing whoever was still knocking for cutting into her precious sleep time.

Elliot was standing at her door. "Who is it?" She asked nervously.

"Elliot, it's JD," a voice replied. "Open up."

After unhooking the chain and turning the door key, Elliot opened the door to reveal her best friend John Dorian (more affectionately known as JD) standing there. His nose was red as Rudolph's and he was standing in his pyjamas with a blanket wrapped around him. He had a large, very full-looking bag sitting at his feet.

"JD," Elliot said, trying to stifle a laugh at her friend's appearance. "What's wrong?"

"I've got the flu," he answered sadly and nasally. "Turk and Carla told me to find somewhere else to stay so I don't pass it on to either them or Izzy. Can I please stay with you?"

Elliot sighed. "I'm really sorry JD. The guest bed isn't ready." She really did want to help her friend, but she'd feel bad having him sleep on her couch, especially when he was feeling so crappy. At the same, she'd feel awful having him staying in a hotel, and there wasn't really anywhere else for JD to go. "There's always the couch…" Elliot tentatively said, hoping he wouldn't be offended.

Much to Elliot's delight, JD smiled broadly. "That would be great, Elliot. Thank you." JD wrapped his arm around his friend and hugged her tightly.

Elliot laughed just a little and said, "No problem. But if I get your flu, I'm kicking your ass."

"Deal," JD said, holding his hand out for Elliot to shake.

* * *

_Two days later…_

JD had been staying with Elliot for two days, and he felt like a bus had hit him. His flu was getting progressively worse and he was now almost relieved that Carla had essentially kicked him out. He would have hated for six-month-old Izzy to be feeling as ill as he was.

Elliot's couch wasn't the most comfortable to be sleeping on, but it was fine for him. It was better than staying in a hotel, and he was glad for Elliot's company.

JD heard scuffled footsteps making their way across the living room. Propping himself up on his right elbow, he peered over the top of the couch to see Elliot. Her head was bowed and her eyes seemed to be closed.

"Morning, Elliot," he said, as he had the previous morning.

She didn't look up at him. "_Piss off_," she barked.

This left JD confused. Elliot was normally very cheery in the mornings, so her short temper seemed out of character.

"Elliot," JD uttered hesitantly, "are you okay?"

"No," the blonde-haired woman answered. JD could hear that her voice was nasal. "I've got your stupid flu," she muttered angrily, as she flopped down on the couch beside her friend.

"I'm sorry, Elliot."

"So you should be," Elliot spat. "I've been up all night vomiting and I haven't had any sleep and my head feels like it's about to explode and I have to go to work today."

JD shook his head. "No. No, you are _not_ going to work today."

"Yes, I am," Elliot protested. "I have to go to work."

JD reached for the phone that sat on the coffee table. "I am phoning in sick for you."

"You. Are. Not," Elliot said, trying to grab the phone out of JD's hands.

JD proceeded to move the phone every time she tried to take it from him. If she reached left, he would move the phone right, and if she would reach right he would move to the left. They fought like that for a few minutes before Elliot suddenly stood up and hurried to the bathroom.

"Elliot, are you okay?"

JD was answered by the gut-wrenching sound of Elliot vomiting. He winced and mumbled 'Lovely' to himself quietly. "Okay," he said more stridently. "I am _definitely_ calling you in sick now."

After calling the Chief of Medicine of their hospital and telling him that neither he nor Elliot would be at work today, JD murmured to himself. "Better prepare myself for that ass kicking."

* * *

Elliot had definitely caught JD's flu, and she was definitely not happy about it. She would have kicked his ass if she had the energy. She was lethargic, she had a high fever, felt headachy, nauseous, all of her body ached. She so ill she wouldn't complain if someone shot her so she didn't have to feel this bad. She hadn't eaten anything either. For most of the day (it was now six in the evening) she had been drifting in and out of sleep on the couch, trying to catch up on what she had lost last night.

Unknowingly to Elliot, JD had had a similar day. However, when he wasn't dead to the world on Elliot's smaller sofa, he was sitting at Elliot's dining table, searching on the Internet for ways to make a flu go away quicker. He had no success. As a doctor, he knew that the best way to treat the flu was to rest and drink lots of fluid, but he couldn't help himself from hoping there was some sort of miracle cure out there.

JD looked up from his laptop when he heard Elliot stirring. "How're you feeling?" he asked when he noticed her eyes opening.

"Crap," was Elliot's simple answer. "You?"

JD laughed slightly, but stopped when he realised it made his head hurt. "Crap."

Elliot propped herself up on her elbows. She noticed that JD's concentration was fixed firmly on the computer screen. "What are you doing?" she questioned curiously.

"I'm looking for flu cures," he answered. "And before you saying anything," he interjected after noticing the Elliot's mouth was open, ready to speak, "I know the cure is supposed to be rest, drink lots of fluids. I was just hoping there would be something that would make it go away."

"Weirdo," Elliot scoffed as she lay fully back onto the sofa. "Looks like we're both going to be off work for a few days," she lamented.

"Yeah," JD sighed.

"What are we going to do?"

JD considered Elliot's question carefully for a few moments before answering. "Well," he began, "we could try and make the most of the days we have off."

Elliot was confused. "Make the most of the days we have off?" she repeated questioningly.

JD stood from the dining table and moved slowly towards the couch that Elliot was lying on. "Yeah, we could try and have fun," he said positively.

"Define 'fun' when your sinuses feel twenty times the size they should be." Elliot quipped dryly.

"I don't know," JD said. "We could watch movies, play cards board games, anything that doesn't involve leaving this apartment and infecting the world with our disease."

"Okay, fine," Elliot asserted. "But I should warn you, all my DVDs are crap, my old board games are falling to pieces and I don't have any playing cards."

"I know who does though," JD smirked, dialling a familiar number into the phone.

There was a documentary about butterflies playing on the television, and JD and Elliot were both looking at it. They weren't _watching_ it, for their eyes just seemed to gaze at the blurrily colours that danced around the screen and the words of the presenter just seemed to be fuzzy noise. Then came a knock at Elliot's apartment door.

Elliot broke out of her daydream and sat up. "It's open, Carla." The words came out of her mouth croakily, and she hoped her friend had heard them anyway. Her throat felt like it had been burned with acid and Elliot really didn't want to try shouting again. Luckily, she didn't have to.

The apartment door creaked open. Carla Espinosa walked in cautiously and quietly, just in case her friends were asleep. She was clad in her work scrubs, but Elliot noticed that something was different.

"Isn't the surgical mask a little much?"

Carla rolled her eyes. "I don't want to catch your flu," she said assertively. "I have to look after Izzy and if I end up in the state that you two are in, I won't be able to do that."

"What's in the bags?" JD asked, as Carla was placing two plastic carriers on the table.

"The DVDs, playing cards and _Cluedo _that you asked for," the dark-haired woman replied. "Why do you need these anyway?"

Elliot spoke. "Well, since we're both going to be off work for a few days, we've decided to treat it like a sleepover," she shrugged. "_No comments please, Carla,"_ Elliot added, noticing her friend's sarcastic facial expression.

"_Right,"_ Carla said. She silently laughed that Elliot knew exactly what she was thinking, but anyone standing in Carla's shoes right now would have been thinking exactly the same thing, given JD and Elliot's history of crossing the friends/lovers barrier on more than one occasion. "Okay. I am also under strict orders to take your temperatures."

"Strict orders from whom?" JD asked.

Carla grinned. "From me," she said, holding up two thermometers. "Open wide," she said sardonically, shoving thermometers into JD and Elliot's mouths.

While the two sat in silence, Carla emptied one of the plastic bags, which contained flu medicine, hot drink mixes, and a large Tupperware tub. JD eyed the container curiously. "What the _hell_ is that?" he asked, once he had taken the thermometer from his mouth.

"What do you think it is?" Carla bit back sarcastically. "It's soup."

"It looks like what I vomited up earlier," Elliot said a lot more loudly than she had expected to.

Carla lowered her eyebrows. "Thank you for _that_ image," she said, walking towards the peaky pair.

Elliot smiled contritely. "Sorry."

"Okay," Carla murmured, closely inspecting the two thermometers. "Both of you have an elevated temperature, so keep taking acetaminophen and drink lots of fluids. Got it?"

JD and Elliot nodded affirmatively.

"I need to go," Carla cheerfully said. "Feel better," she added, heading out of the door. She closed it quietly behind her.

In the minutes that followed Carla's departure, Elliot and JD stayed in quietness. Carla's silent sarcasm regarding the sleepover comment had weird awkward atmosphere in its wake. Over the past six years, they had worked hard to build and maintain a normal (well, normal-ish) friendship. JD staying with Elliot was a testament to how much they'd moved on, but they still weren't exactly comfortable talking about their numerous train-wreck-esque attempts at a relationship.

Neither of them particularly wanted to be wanted to be the one to break the tension, but if JD hadn't spoken, they could have mutely been there all night. "You wanna see what DVDs Carla brought?"

Elliot grinned at him, and JD was positive he could see she relief in her eyes. She nodded, and slid further along the couch so she was closer to her friend.

JD pulled the carrier bag nearer to him. "Okay," he mumbled, unwrapping the DVDs from the bag. "Wow, she's put a lot in here."

They separated the DVDs into two piles. JD looked through one stack, and Elliot took the other.

JD scanned the case cover. "_Pay It Forward."_

"We've got _La Lengua de las Mariposas, _here," Elliot added.

"It wouldn't be Carla if she didn't throw in something Spanish," JD quipped. "Oh, _Donnie Darko."_

"_Sixth Sense_," Elliot said.

JD: "_Hide And Seek."_

Elliot: "_The Grudge."_

JD: "_The Wiggles in concert."_

"_The Blair Wi… Wiggles in concert?"_ Elliot asked, wondering if her flu was now screwing with her hearing.

JD held up the brightly coloured case so Elliot could see it. JD let out a tiny laugh, so did Elliot and it wasn't long before they were both laughing as hysterically as the flu would let them.

* * *

It was 3.30am. During one of the movies (or it could have been _The Wiggles_ for all JD could remember) they had both fallen asleep, on sofas in the living room. The problem with that was, however, that if one of them got up to go to the bathroom, or to get a drink or in the nastiest instance empty their stomachs through the front exit, they would wake the other up. They were awake more than they were asleep. By this point, they had both given up on the hope of getting much sleep and they were lying awake on their couches, waiting for the next round of flu evilness to attack.

The room was silent, except for the shallow noise of breathing and the ticking of the clock. The minutes seemed to pass so slowly, and it was annoying JD to no end.

"Hey, Elliot," JD said quietly, almost in a whisper, just in the off chance that Elliot might be sleeping. He wouldn't want to wake her up.

"What?"

"Do you think… Do you think there's some sort of like… Flu God… or Flu Monster… and he - or she - controls who feels ill?"

"You mean… like a puppet master?" Elliot questioned.

"Yeah."

Elliot mulled over the idea. "Maybe," she said slowly. "If there is, he's got us _good_." She paused. "Maybe he hates us."

"Maybe he hates _all_ doctors."

Elliot perched herself on her elbow and looked towards JD. "Because _we_ take a stand against _his_ spiteful illness."

JD and Elliot both chuckled.

"Maybe there's a monster for every illness," JD suggested.

"But how do they decide who gets the illness and when?"

"Maybe they don't decide," JD said. "Maybe it's like a random thing. Like they type in random numbers into their computer systems and see what sticks."

"Kinda like those telemarketing dudes who dial random numbers and see who's stupid enough to pick up the phone?"

"I do that all the time."

"Me too," Elliot sighed. A few minutes later she said, "If there are lots of different disease… monsters, how do they decide who gets what illness?"

"Maybe they play a game."

"A game," Elliot repeated questioningly.

"Yeah. Like a competition. Whoever wins the game get to infect someone with their toxic illness… ness."

"What games would they play?" Elliot asked, amidst a yawn.

"I don't know," JD said. "Maybe poker… Connect Four…"

"Jenga," Elliot piped up.

"Monopoly."

"Scrabble."

"Cluedo."

They continued like that - naming any sort of board or card games they could think of until it was four in the morning and they realised they were beginning to exhaust their list.

"Um…. Jenga?"

"We've already said that one."

Elliot frowned. "Oh."

"What were we even talking about?"

"I can't remember," Elliot said. "Can you?"

"No." JD hesitated. "Wanna just go to sleep?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then. Night, Elliot."

"Night, JD."

* * *

The sun was bright as it seeped through that small gaps in the blinds and shone right into Elliot's tired eyes. She had no idea what time what it was, but she figured it must be late morning because she couldn't remember the last time she woke up to this much sunlight. She glanced at the clock. 10.02am.

Her living room was empty. That was weird. Actually, it was weird she had woken up in the living room. She hadn't done that in a while. Not since… well, not since she and Keith had broken up seven weeks ago. The first few days, she had sat up late watching anything she could on the TV just so she didn't have to lie in her bed in silence and think about what had been happening. She would end up falling asleep on the couch and waking up the next morning with an extremely painful neck. After the first few days, Elliot had thrown herself into her work. Working became like her coping mechanism, but now she was thankful for the days off she had.

Elliot got up from the couch she was lying on. She was feeling thirsty, so she headed for the kitchen and poured herself a glass of cold water then went to sit at her dining table. There was a piece of paper with biro pen doodles sitting on it. The blonde doctor eyed them curiously. The doodles were of what looked like stick figures with exceptionally large heads. They all looked evil, with beady eyes, semi-vertical eyebrows and crooked, slobbering mouths. Elliot inspected the doodles closely, trying to work out what the hell they were.

The bathroom door clicked open and Elliot looked up from the piece of paper. JD emerged from the room dressed in black pyjamas and a lilac dressing gown that was clearly Elliot's and his dark hair was wet. He must have been in the shower, Elliot thought. His eyes went wide when he saw Elliot.

"Did I wake you?" He asked with concern.

Elliot smiled and shook her head. "By the way," she said as JD walked towards the sofa. "What are these?" She continued, holding up the piece of paper.

"Those are my 6am drawings of flu monsters," JD answered.

Elliot lowered her eyebrows in an odd form of confusion. Titling her head to the side she said, "So we really did have that conversation?"

"I guess so."

Elliot chuckled just slightly. "That was a weird one."

"Yeah," JD sighed. "So how you feeling this morning?"

"My head is pounding again. My whole body hurts and I can't breathe though my nose. So… crap, basically," Elliot frowned. "You?"

"Same, really," JD said. He lied. He still felt flu-y but for the first time in a few days he didn't feel like being ill was all he could think about. He wasn't even sure why he lied. He just felt guilty admitting that he wasn't feeling too bad. "What do you want to do today?"

"Make the flu go away," Elliot deadpanned. "How do we do that? How do we kill the… flu monster? Can we shoot him?"

JD looked at her strangely. "Do you have a gun?"

"N…no…"

"Well we can't do that then," JD joked.

Elliot giggled just a little, then whimpered almost, and lay her head on the table.

JD stood up from the sofa and walked towards Elliot. "Feeling that bad, huh?"

"Mmhmm," was Elliot's simple response.

"Go and lie down on the couch," JD said, placing a hand on Elliot's back. "Go and relax."

"But it's my turn to make the food."

Since they were both ill, JD and Elliot had an agreement that they would each take turns in making the meals. It was Elliot's turn to make breakfast this morning.

"Don't worry about it. Just you go and lie down," JD said, helping her up from her chair.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course I'm sure!" he said sympathetically, as Elliot lay down on the sofa. "Now, what would you like for breakfast?"

"Toast, please," Elliot answered quietly.

"Okay." JD went into the kitchen and began preparing breakfast.

"By the way," Elliot said from the living room. Her voice was strained. "Nice girls' dressing gown," she joked.

JD laughed. When he re-entered the living room a few minutes later, a plate of toast in one hand and a cup of tea in the other, JD noticed that Elliot's eyes were closed.

"Elliot," JD whispered, just in case she was sleeping. "You awake?"

No response.

"Elliot?"

Again, no response. She was out for the count. Elliot had obviously fallen asleep before pulling the blanket over herself. Actually, she was lying on it.

JD put the tea and toast down on the coffee table. He tried to work out a way to get the blanket from under Elliot without running the risk of waking her, but there was no way. Instead, he took off the lilac dressing gown and placed it gently over sleeping Elliot. Just so as she wasn't cold.

* * *

Elliot Reid felt a sense of déjà vu when she awoke. She could have sworn she had just done this. She was lying on the same couch in the same position as she was what could only have been a few minutes ago.

"So you _are_ alive, then?" Elliot heard JD say from the dining table.

That was when Elliot started to notice the subtle differences in the two moments. Instead of being covered by a beige colour blanket, she was under a lilac coloured something or over. Oh, it was her dressing gown. And instead of the sun stinging her eyes, the room was duller.

"How long have I been out?" She asked sleepily.

"Well, it's half past six now, and you've been out since roughly half past three this morning. Except for the fifteen minutes you were up to question my drawings of flu monsters," JD joked.

"Oh," Elliot murmured quietly. "So what did I miss?"

"A lot of death and destruction."

Propping herself up on her elbow, Elliot turned to look at JD with a confused and sarcastic expression.

"I watched some movies."

"Ah," Elliot said, laughing slightly.

"Oh and Carla came by again."

"She did?"

"Yeah."

"Was she wearing the surgical mask again?"

JD laughed. "Yeah. She brought over soup and DVDs too."

"Great. Did she bring more _Wiggles_ concerts?"

"No," JD answered. "But she _did_ bring _The Lion King._"

"Awesome," Elliot smiled.

They sat in silence for a few seconds until they heard a loud rumbling noise.

"Elliot, was that your _stomach_?" JD asked, almost in disbelief.

Elliot smiled sheepishly. "I'm hungry." She stood up from the couch and said, "Is there any soup left?"

"Yeah. Want me to get it for you?"

"No, it's fine," Elliot smiled. "Thanks anyway."

When Elliot was standing in the kitchen, waiting for her bowl of soup to heat up in the microwave, she said to JD: "So did Carla say when she's letting you back to the apartment?"

There were a few seconds of silence. JD didn't answer.

"JD?" Elliot said, unsure if he'd heard her the first time.

There was another second or two of slice before he answered. "Uh…no," he said nervously, hoping that she didn't detect the little white lie in his voice.

* * *

A few hours later, JD and Elliot were sitting on the couch watching _The Lion King._ It was a welcome change of genre from the horror and disaster movies they'd been watching for the last few days. They were at the point of the film when the little lion cub Simba was calling out for someone to help his father (who had just been thrown down a gorge by his uncle), when JD noticed Elliot shaking slightly.

"Are you crying?" he asked her quietly.

Elliot just shook her head. "I'm really cold," she said, barley above a whisper.

She wasn't shaking, JD realised. She was shivering. He put a hand on Elliot's forehead. "You're burning up," JD said gently.

It was no wonder that Elliot was really warm. She had three thick blankets covering her and she was also wearing her dressing gown on top of her pyjamas.

"I feel really cold," she reiterated.

JD slid a little along the couch that they were both sitting on and wrapped an arm around Elliot's shoulder. He wasn't sure whey. Maybe it was so Elliot would feel as if as if he was trying to warm her up. Maybe it was just because he hated seeing her this miserable. She pulled her feet (which the wrapped in two pairs of thick slipper socks) on the couch and rested her head on his shoulder.

That's how they fell asleep.

* * *

Carla Espinosa-Turk climbed the stairwell of Elliot's apartment building hurriedly. Her daughter Izzy had been fussy this morning, refusing to settle for the nanny. Carla had instructed the nanny to arrive an hour earlier than usual this week to give her time to stop by Elliot's apartment, just to check on how they were doing and to take them their lunch/dinner, before going to work at Sacred Heart Hospital where she was a nurse. Izzy had been fine for the first few days with this new and temporary routine, but today she was kicking up a stink, which made Carla run half an hour late.

When she finally reached Elliot's apartment door, she knocked quietly but received no response. She knocked again a little more loudly but received the same reply. Carla rummaged in her bag for her secret weapon: the spare key that Elliot had given her a few weeks ago. Carla tried her best to unlock and open the door quietly, assuming that she wasn't getting any answer to her knocking because JD and Elliot were both asleep. She tiptoed into the apartment, but stopped suddenly when she noticed how they were lying on the couch.

"Well, _this_ is interesting," Carla muttered to herself, quietly and sarcastically.

Elliot was lying with her feet up the couch with her feet up and her head was almost on JD's chest. JD had his arm around Elliot, and it looked as if he had been hugging her tightly. They looked to Carla as if they almost fitted together. They seemed so peaceful.

Carla quietly wandered into the kitchen and put a tub of chicken soup into the refrigerator. She then walked back into the living room and found a piece of scrap paper and a pen. On the paper she wrote:

_Hey guys. Can't come round tomorrow, got stuck covering a shift .I made extra chicken soup for you both, just in case you wanted it. I'll be round again on Thursday morning. Feel better. :) Carla x._

She placed the note on the coffee table then walked quietly out of the apartment, locking the door behind her. She smiled knowingly to herself.

* * *

It was Thursday morning and JD was feeling fine. He still felt slightly off (slightly blocked noses are never fun), but apart from that, he seemed to be rid of his flu. He had been up, showered and dressed for over an hour now and he was cooking breakfast for himself, Elliot and Carla, who was due to arrive round any time now.

While JD seemed to be clear of his illness, Elliot was not. She wasn't feeling anywhere near as bad as she had been a few nights ago, but she was still feeling headachy and she still had a fluctuating fever. She was currently in the bathroom, showering.

There was a knock at the door. Carla then walked into the apartment and headed straight for the kitchen. "Hey, how you feeling?" she asked when she saw JD.

"Not too bad, thanks," JD smiled.

"So you'll be coming back to the apartment soon then? Turk's been like a bear with a sore head, not seeing you for nearly a week. He's really starting to annoy me."

JD fidgeted nervously. "I still feel kinda flu-y, so I'm gonna stay here for a little while longer. I don't want to pass anything on to Izzy."

"_Bambi!"_ Carla authoritatively said. "You're lying to me."

"Am not."

"Yes you are. You know how I know that? You're feeling fine."

JD looked down at the ground guiltily. "Am not," he said unconvincingly.

"Bambi, you were feeling fine three days ago."

"Hey, how'd you know?" JD asked quickly, before realising he had inadvertently proved himself guilty.

"I can tell when you're lying," Carla smiled. "So you gonna tell me why you don't want to go home?"

"I don't _not_ want to go home. I just…I guess I'd feel bad leaving Elliot on her own while she's still in when we've been seeing this flu out together." JD looked at Carla's facial expression. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"Nope," Carla answered without missing a beat. "JD, the other day when I came round, you and Elliot were sound asleep on the couch together and the two of you were very… tightly… snuggled together," she said. "JD, is something going on between you two?"

"No," JD answered immediately.

"_JD,"_ Carla said. "Don't lie to me. 'Cause you know I'll find out anyway."

"Carla I'm not lying to you," JD said. "That night we watching a movie and Elliot was complaining of being freezing so I put my arm around her to try and warm her up. I guess we just fell asleep like that."

Carla looked doubtful. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," JD said sternly. "You can even ask Elliot." He waited for a few seconds before asking: "Believe me?"

Carla examined his face closely. "I believe you," she said, detecting no sense of dishonesty from him.

Elliot walked into the kitchen. "Oh, hey Carla," she said cheerily.

Both Carla and JD jumped slightly in fright, neither of them hearing Elliot approaching.

"Hey Elliot," Carla said shakily, still jittery form slight shock.

"What are we talking about?" The blonde woman asked obliviously.

JD shot Carla a look that said '_don't say anything about what we were just talking about'_ and replied. "Uh, nothing. Just what kind of sauce we'd like with our bacon. Right, Carla?"

"Right," Carla smiled. When Elliot wasn't looking at her, she shook her head at JD as if to say '_lame cover up.' _

"Coolio," Elliot said happily. "I'll have tomato ketchup, please."

It was then JD noticed that for the first time in days, Elliot wasn't in pyjamas. She was wearing jeans and a grey oversized top. "Hey, is that my t-shirt?" JD asked.

"Oh yeah," Elliot said. "All of my good tops are dirty and I really didn't want to wear a scrub top when I'm not working. Do you mind?"

JD smiled. "No, of course not."

"Thanks," Elliot smiled.

Once Elliot had left the kitchen a couple of seconds later, JD looked at Carla. Her eyebrows were raised and she had a weird look almost a 'told you so' look on her face.

"Oh, shut up," JD said, walking into the living room.

Carla just laughed.

* * *

Once Carla had left, JD had gone most of the day mentally ignoring what Carla had said. He'd done pretty well with that; it was now 10.15pm.

Elliot was also doing pretty well today. It was the first day in a few that she'd lasted the whole day without falling asleep. She and JD had spent most of the day watching TV. That's what they were still doing.

"I've missed this," Elliot said quietly.

JD looked round at her. "Missed what?"

"Thursday nights at home, watching _Grey's Anatomy _in our PJs."

Elliot was referring to one of their rituals from when they were roommates a couple of years ago. Each Thursday night, they would hurry home from work, maybe grabbing a bottle of wine on the way, get into their PJ and watch _Grey's Anatomy_ and just chill out.

"And I know we still both watch it and we talk about for like… an _hour_ when we get to work on Friday morning," Elliot continued. "But sitting at home, watching it in our pyjamas… it was like our _thing,_ and I guess I just kinda miss it."

"Me too," JD said softly.

* * *

For the last two nights, JD and Elliot had both made it to their own rooms before falling asleep on the couch. While it was the beds were more comfortable than the sofa, they'd both secretly missed being in the living room until they just couldn't remain conscious any longer. They both missed their late night/early morning discussions about the most random of topics (flu monsters, for example). They'd just missed each other's company.

When JD left the guest room on Saturday morning, he noticed Elliot sitting on the couch, looking rather gloomy.

"You okay, Elliot," he asked.

Elliot looked up at him, and JD noticed that her eyes were red. She'd been cry.

"Um, yeah," she said sadly. "It's just… today's the 25th."

"What's so important about the 25th?"

"Nothing, anymore."

"Elliot?"

"It should have been me and Keith's two-year anniversary today," she frowned, her eyes filling with tears once again."

JD sat down on the sofa beside her. "I'm sorry, Elliot," he said, rubbing her shoulder slightly.

Unconsciously, Elliot twirled her hair. "Thanks," she said tearfully.

"If it makes you feel any better," JD said, "I'll bet he's just as upset today as you are."

Elliot laughed bitterly. "I doubt it."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh well, I'm sure him and Kerstin are out somewhere have a great time, laughing at me," Elliot spat.

"Who's Kerstin?" JD asked, even though he thought he knew the answer already.

"The _other woman,"_ Elliot muttered despondently. "I was making a phone call on Keith's phone, because mine was dead, and I accidentally listened to his voicemail, and there was this message from the woman saying that she'd meet him at this place and that she had a really great time lat time and some other stuff that I am not repeating."

JD was _mad. _Extremely angry. He actually couldn't think of a time when he'd been angrier. But he didn't let it show. He just let Elliot continue what she was saying."

"I went to this place and he was there in broad daylight, making out with this woman. I drove home after that. And I waited until he got home to confront him on it. He kept trying and trying to deny it, but he eventually admitted and then he just left. No apology, no nothing," Elliot concluded; she was now fully crying.

"Bastard," JD muttered. That was the least he wanted to say.

"He didn't even take his stuff with him," Elliot added.

"What did you do with it?"

"Burned it."

JD smiled and laughed slightly. "Elliot, why didn't you tell us what happened?"

Elliot spoke quietly. " I was embarrassed."

"Oh, Elliot," JD said, hugging her tightly and sympathetically. "You don't need to be embarrassed. You've got nothing to be embarrassed about. It's him that's the idiot if he thinks he's going to find someone better than you out there."

"You think so?" Elliot said, hiccupping through tears.

"Would I tell you differently?"

Elliot laughed just a little. "No."

"See," JD said softly.

"You don't think it was my fault?"

"Elliot, you are a beautiful, smart, funny woman with a heart of gold, and if Keith can't see that then he's a stupid _stupid_ man."

"Thank you JD," she said.

"No problem," he replied.

Elliot was still crying, so JD hugged her tightly, gently rubbing her back until she didn't seem to be sobbing so much.

"You okay?" he said quietly.

"Yeah," Elliot answered, sitting up. "Sorry, I was… I was just feeling sorry for myself," she said, her voice still thick with tears. "I mean, I haven't even asked you how you're doing."

JD knew straight away what Elliot was referring to. "Kim and the baby," he said quietly.

Kim was his ex-girlfriend, whom he got pregnant on the second date. She went to Tacoma, Washington for a research fellowship, where she lost their baby. She and JD broke up shortly after that, finding a long-distance relationship too difficult and realising that they were only staying in that situation because there was a baby in the picture. If there wasn't a baby in the picture, they couldn't find a reason for to stay together. That was a year ago.

"I'm doing okay," JD said. "Really," he added when he noticed Elliot's concerned expression.

"Are you sure? It's okay if you're not."

"Yes, really I'm fine."

"Do you still think about it a lot?"

"From time to time," JD answered. "I wonder what would have happened if things turned out differently. The baby would have been born by now, and I wonder sometimes what he – or she – would have been like."

"Yeah," Elliot murmured quietly.

"I try not to think about it too much though," he said. "I think if I did, I'd go insane."

There was silence, while each of them thought of their own sadness.

"Do you think," Elliot said quietly, "that there's some sort of despair monster who decides bad things are going to happen to?"

"Maybe."

"Do you not just wish that life could be fun and easy all the time and that there could be no such thing as miscarried pregnancies or cheating boyfriends?"

"Yeah," JD said sadly.

They retreated to their unhappy hush.

"So, about Keith," JD said trying to break the silence. "Do you want me an Turk to go and kill him?"

Elliot laughed. "Thanks, but no thanks."

"You want to prank call him and his slut?"

Her face lit up. "Now that sounds like fun!"

* * *

Elliot laughed loudly. "Oh my god. I can't believe we just did that!"

Prank calling Elliot's ex-boyfriend had soon turned into also prank calling the butcher's, the baker's, the candlestick maker's (they just couldn't resist that combination), a shoe store, a vets' office and lastly their Chief Of Medicine, Dr Perry Cox.

"I know," JD giggled. "He'll kill us if he finds out it was us!"

"_Whoever this is, you re-he-he-he-he_-he_-lly_ _do _not_ want to meet _me_ in a dark alley," _Elliot said, imitating Dr Cox, which sent them both into fits of laughter again. "JD, that was an awesome idea. I feel much better," Elliot said, once she had calmed from laughter.

"So do I," JD grinned. "Screw the despair monster! We might be total losers but we're gonna be happy losers, right?"

"Right!" Elliot said emphatically. "Hey, my throat doesn't hurt anymore!"

"Awesome!"

"I actually feel a lot better, flu-wise."

"That's great," JD beamed.

"So who we pranking next?" Elliot asked.

"Random number from the phone book?" JD suggested.

"Go for it!"

They forgot that Carla was supposed to arrive any minute now.

* * *

Carla stood at the door of Elliot's apartment. She had been standing there for easily five minutes and JD and Elliot still hadn't noticed that she had walked in. Instead, they were laughing hysterically on the sofa, completely oblivious to anything else that was happening around them.

Carla stepped forward. "Uh, guys?" She said, trying to get their attention. "Guys!" she shouted.

JD and Elliot turned around to face Carla, but they didn't stop laughing.

"What the hell have you two been drinking?" The Latina woman asked. "Can I have some of it?"

Elliot shook her head. "We're completely sober."

"We've been making prank phone calls for the last hour!" JD explained.

"You people are _doctors_," Carla said incredulously.

"We don't care!" Elliot yelled happily.

"Why are you here anyway?" JD asked.

"I'm here to see if you're both well enough to go back to work, and if JD's ready to go back to the apartment," Carla answered. She then put her hand on their foreheads. "Okay so neither of you have a fever. Any nausea?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"Actually does wanting to throw up chunks at your screen because of a George/Izzie pairing while watching _Grey's_ count?" JD asked.

Carla looked at him sarcastically. "No. Headaches?"

"Nope," JD answered for both of them.

"Aching limbs?"

"Uh, no," Elliot said.

"Well," Carla said. "I think you're both good to go back to work. And that also means that JD, you're good to go home."

"Oh," JD muttered quietly.

Instead of being happy that they were well again, they both frowned.

* * *

JD's bag was packed. He was almost ready to leave and Carla was waiting in the car downstairs.

"So I had fun this week," JD said nostalgically.

Elliot smiled. "And when I didn't want to shoot myself so I'd feel better, so did I."

"Who knew you could turn a flu into something fun?" JD joked.

"Yeah."

It was weird. They'd only been staying together for a week while they were both sick, but neither really wanted to go back to normality. Maybe it was because, despite being ill, they'd had too much fun. Maybe it was because they hadn't hung out just the two of them in while because they both had their own other stuff going on. They just kind of wished the week could last longer.

"JD, this is going to sound weird but I'm really gonna miss you being here. It was the most fun I've had in a really long time."

"Me too," JD sighed. "We should do this again some time."

"You're still coming over on Thursday night for _Grey's Anatomy_, right?" Elliot asked.

"Yup," JD smiled.

Elliot giggled slightly and looked down at the ground. When she looked back up, her eyes were filling with tears. "This is ridiculous," she said. "I'm going to see you tomorrow at work."

"I think we've both had too much fun this week."

"Yeah," Elliot nodded. "And thank you for talking all the business with Keith out with me. Made me feel much better."

"Any time," JD smiled. "Really. Anytime you want to talk about it, just give me a call."

"And you. Anytime you want to talk about what happened with Kim and the baby, just give me a call."

"Thanks Elliot," JD said.

They stood in silence. Elliot rocked on her heels.

"Wanna hug it out?" JD said a few seconds later.

Elliot laughed, and then wrapped her arms around her friend. They broke the hug a few seconds later.

"Okay," JD said. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Elliot smiled sadly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Once JD walked down the hallway and into the stairwell, Elliot closed her apartment door.

* * *

_**AN again: This was 23 pages in my Microsoft Word. Just in case you care. :) Let me know what you think please!**_


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